Need help sharpening a straight razor

J

JJHauser84

Joined
Apr 2, 2010
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20
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I've been using Murray Carter's sharpening process since January now and I feel like my skills have gotten much better since practicing. I can get my knives and straight razors body shaving sharp without much effort but I'm having issues getting my straight razor face shaving sharp. I've tried about six times to shave my face and I'm getting bad razor burn and alot of tugg.
Is there anyone who can give me some pointers on how to get my razors even sharper than I can get them?
This is the process I go through when sharpening my razor:
1. Primary edge is sharpened on 6000gt King stone about 1 penny -1 dime raised off stone.
2. Stropped using same King stone but only going away from edge. Start off with pressure and as I continue to strop, the pressure lightens till I am putting no pressure on the blade.
3. Stropped again with King stone and newspaper placed on top. Same process as before.
4. I go and shave and hurt myself.
 
Knives and razors are entirely different animals. What would be considered ridiculously sharp for a knife might shred your face if you try to shave with it. I would get on youtube and look up razor honing or search through the many "how-to" threads on B&B or SRP...

Personally I use the budget "norton" methods mentioned by a lot of guys out there. With 1 layer of electrical tape on the spine I will set my bevel on a 1k stone, proceed to hone on a 4k stone then a 8k stone (I use a 200/1000 combo stone and a 4000/8000 combo stone) and then finish on a 12k chinese waterstone you can get from woodcraft. I then strop on veg-tanned leather with .5 micron paste and then finish on my latigo strops. Seems to be a very acceptable progression for me with zero irritation.
 
jjhauser84, i see that you are in ohio also. i'm west of columbus and if you are close by i would be glad to help you out. send me an email with your number and i'll give you a call.
there is a forum called straightrazorplace that you will find some good information on that might help you out.

i noticed you are a medic. i offer free sharpening of duty knives. check out my thread. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=585019
 
6000 grit is not a high enough grit to be smooth for shaving(imo). Some people like the edge off of 8000, but most like to go to at least 10000 grit.

Did I understand right that you are holding the spine off of the hone? When sharpening a straight you are supposed to lay it flat on the stone. The spine is a built in angle guide. You can add a layer of electrical tape if you want to reduce spine wear, but really it is made to wear with the edge to keep the angle consistent.

Personally I use a coticule, which is a natural stone mined in Belgium. With it you can make a slurry on top of it which makes the stone act like a lower grit. Then you gradually dilute the slurry with water until you are honing on just water. By doing this, you can sharpen a straight all the way from dull to shave ready with one stone instead of getting a 1k, 3-5k, 8k, 12k. It does take longer to get the hang of it though.
 
Since you were holding the spine off of the stone--even by just a little--you're going to need to do some restoration work to get the edge back to the angle it should be. In addition to not going to a fine enough grit stone, the broader edge angle probably contributed significantly to the tug and razor burn you're experiencing. :o
 
I'm wondering if the OP received the advice to raise the spine a penny off the stone from some internet resource. If so, that particular source ought to be "outed" and corrected for the sake of the general straight edge community and for newbies in particular.

As a newbie myself, I can attest to the seemingly nebulous nature of all the info. available on the web. It's almost overwhelming. But regarding the basic honing position of the blade on the stone, I have yet to encounter a resource that suggests anything other than keeping the blade flat on the stone surface, using the spine as a built-in angle guide.

So, JJHauser84, can you cite the source from which this dubious method was propagated?
 
I'm embarassed to admit that I don't know what the grits are for my sharpening stones. When I first got my razor I did the initial sharpening with a fine black Arkansas stone. I then finished up with an old Swaty stone (made specifically for straight razors). This does the job quite well.

I'd suggest doing a search for old razor stones on Ebay. They turn up fairly frequently. Get a stone in good condition and you should be good to go.
 
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